HB1130 – Mandates 50% reductions in utility bills and 50% improvements in reliability. (Dead)
Prime Sponsor – Representative Dye (R; 9th District; Whitman County) (Co-sponsor Klicker – R)
Current status – Had a hearing in the House Committee on Environment and Energy January 22nd.
Next step would be – Dead bill.
Legislative tracking page for the bill.

Summary –
This bill would mandate reducing gas and electric bills, including taxes and fees, by 2031 – to the lower of 50% below 1990 levels or 50 percent below 2020 levels. It would mandate reducing cumulative power outages and energy supply disruptions to the lower of 50% below 1990 levels or 50% below 2020 levels. It specifies that “to the the extent practicable” the rules developed under the recent 100% Clean Electricity Act” have to incorporate the objective of reaching those targets.

The public counsel unit of the office of the Attorney General would be required to report to the Legislature by December 1, 2022 on the actions necessary to achieve these improvements using existing statutory authority; and to recommend any additional statutory authority necessary to achieve them. The report would have to be be based on an analysis of the cumulative cost impact of power outages in the state since 1990 and of the impact of a range of percentage reductions in the number and duration of outages since then and extending to 2050; as well as of the cumulative cost savings and economic and employment impact of the additional cash flow in the economy resulting from the proposed reductions in utility bills. (To the extent that it was practical, the report would state the bill costs and reliability experience of residents in Indian country and of other historically disadvantaged communities separately, as well as any particular benefits that those communities may experience from improved reliability and lower bill costs.)

The bill declares that it’s the intent of the Legislature to supply the public counsel unit with financial resources to develop the plan by providing at least as much as has been appropriated by the state since 2013 to fund agency review and third-party consulting on the removal of dams on the lower Snake river and the evaluation of Washington’s potential for high-speed rail. It specifies that the research Commerce does on energy assistance for low-income households must include collecting data on delinquent utility accounts, vehicle charging costs, and trends in those, and provide its aggregated data on the issue differentiated by city, county, and legislative district in order to increase political accountability.